ADVERTISING FEATURE No Squirtle, Bulbasaur or Pikachu will be safe since councillor Ben Gilholme successfully convinced council to&nbsp;incorporate&nbsp;a Pokemon Go event&nbsp;into the 2018 Festival of Fisher’s Ghost.&nbsp; Earlier in the year, the Labor councillor – a self-confessed member of the “nerd culture” community – asked Campbelltown City Council staff to investigate the feasibility of hosting a Pokemon Go event in the area to attract players and boost tourism. Cr Gilholme said the game attracted a wide demographic of dedicated players who would travel to engage in a specific event. “This game has attracted an audience that’s beyond just nerd culture,” he said. “What I’ve seen from other events is that you get people playing who are young, people who are old – all types of people. In July we had a huge group of people out at Mawson Park at 2am in the morning playing Pokemon.” Pokemon Go is an augmented reality smartphone app which allowed players to ‘catch’ virtual Pokemon characters within the real world. The free event – called Catch ‘em All Campbelltown – will be held at Mawson Park on Friday, November 9 from 5pm-9pm.&nbsp;Gametraders Macarthur will offer free Pokemon trading card lessons, and the first 100 players will receive a free Pokemon deck.&nbsp;Catch ‘em All will also include free face-painting and jumping castles, with refreshments available to purchase. Participants who dress up will go in the running to win one of several prizes.

Festival of Fisher's Ghost 2018: All systems Go for Pokemon event

GO!: Councillor Ben Gilholme is thrilled that a Pokemon Go event is part of this year's festival. More than 700 people have already registered. Photo: Simon Bennett

ADVERTISING FEATURE

No Squirtle, Bulbasaur or Pikachu will be safe since councillor Ben Gilholme successfully convinced council to incorporate a Pokemon Go event into the 2018 Festival of Fisher’s Ghost.

Earlier in the year, the Labor councillor – a self-confessed member of the “nerd culture” community – asked Campbelltown City Council staff to investigate the feasibility of hosting a Pokemon Go event in the area to attract players and boost tourism.

Cr Gilholme said the game attracted a wide demographic of dedicated players who would travel to engage in a specific event.

“This game has attracted an audience that’s beyond just nerd culture,” he said.

“What I’ve seen from other events is that you get people playing who are young, people who are old – all types of people. In July we had a huge group of people out at Mawson Park at 2am in the morning playing Pokemon.”

Pokemon Go is an augmented reality smartphone app which allowed players to ‘catch’ virtual Pokemon characters within the real world.

The free event – called Catch ‘em All Campbelltown – will be held at Mawson Park on Friday, November 9 from 5pm-9pm. Gametraders Macarthur will offer free Pokemon trading card lessons, and the first 100 players will receive a free Pokemon deck. Catch ‘em All will also include free face-painting and jumping castles, with refreshments available to purchase.

Participants who dress up will go in the running to win one of several prizes.